What is Resilience?

The ability to [not just] return to a previous state [but] adapt and learn to live with changes and uncertainty (Béné 2013)

The ability of systems to absorb changes of state variables, driving variables, and

parameters, and still persist (Holling 1973)

The ability of people, households, communities, countries, and systems to

mitigate, adapt to, and recover from shocks and stresses in a manner that

reduces chronic vulnerability and facilitates inclusive growth (USAID 2012)

The ability of a joint social and ecological system to

withstand shocks [as well as] learn from them and evolve in

response to changing conditions (Oxfam 2009)

The capacity of a system to absorb disturbance and

reorganize [and still retain] the same function, structure,

identity, and feedbacks (Resilience Alliance 2002)

What is Resilience?

Building resilience means helping people, communities, countries, and global institutions prevent, anticipate, prepare for, cope with, and recover from shocks and not only bounce back to where they were before the shocks occurred, but become even better-off.

IFPRI 2020 Consultation definition

Why Do Shocks Matter?

Food Price Volatility

Earthquakes

Climate Change Cyclones

Floods

Food Safety

Conflict

Pandemics

Drought

Why Do Shocks Matter?

1. Shocks affect food security. The 2008 food crisis may have caused 63 million more people to become malnourished.

2. Shocks affect nutrition. Climate change may cause child malnourishment rates to increase by 18 percent in low-income countries by 2050. The developmental effects of poor childhood nutrition persist into adulthood.

3. Shocks affect livelihoods. The 2010 drought in Russia destroyed more than 30 percent of the agricultural area in affected regions.

4. Shocks affect national economic growth. Civil war costs countries 2-3 percent of GDP; it can take countries up to 14 years to return to their original levels of growth.